


Wounds of Solitude

by HapSky



Series: Bravery of Hope [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Shiro (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, M/M, Solitude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-10 23:25:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11702043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HapSky/pseuds/HapSky
Summary: Like Shiro hadn’t dared to word his ask for Ulaz to be with him, Ulaz doesn’t dare to speak out that he is. They will eventually. They will heal, Ulaz’s soul and Shiro’s body. And all that heals carries hope.





	Wounds of Solitude

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to [War of Faiths](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11057754)

One would think of Ulaz as desperate and distraught. He mumbles quiet nothings while he rhythmically covers Shiro’s wounds with balm. No tears are falling from his eyes, but they quiver in his voice, a silent susurration between his lips. Every scratch and every cut on Shiro’s beaten body he treats slices deep into Ulaz’s soul. Every broken bone he reduces and steadies, every fracture shatters his heart. Every drop of blood Shiro loses suffocates him and gurgles in his lungs. Ulaz doesn’t shy away from all the pain, stays with Shiro until the wounds are hidden beneath bandages, until the agony’s cruel and tearing grip on Shiro’s body has weakened. Until Shiro kisses his forehead as a thanks.

Ulaz treats Shiro like a treasure of glass that could crack at any moment. So cautious, so caring. He treats Shiro like the last remains of something beloved. He is not wrong. With how close the Galra had been to the Alteans, and how fond each of them had been of another, Ulaz feels like a world has been ripped out of his own, like Shiro’s arm had been ripped off of his body. It hurts. Ulaz misses Altea. He longs for bright smiles on gracious faces, yearns to see colourful eyes and light dazzling skin. He looks at Shiro, still covered in blood and mud. He has to wash him clean, he thinks. Shiro should shine again.

Shiro feels cosy, in Ulaz’s small home. He nestles up in the thin blankets Ulaz gives him. It’s an old, run down fighter ship, Ulaz’s refuge. All traces of its actual purpose thrown out, no pilot seats, no weapons, no technology. Shiro feels safe here, with a Galra soldier. He had seen them fight, had seen them come at him with cold eyes and cold blades and sharp short movements. Ruthless. He wonders, just when had they turned against them? It has been a given they would protect them, and the Alteans had felt safe behind a fighting Galra soldier. It hurts that they had turned around. Hurts to fear it might have been because of them. It makes Shiro sad, the thought of having disappointed and the feeling of being abandoned. He longs to trust again, to trust someone with his whole heart.

Ulaz brings more blankets, when he notices Shiro’s shaking and shivering. But it’s not the night’s icy silence that freezes Shiro. They have been left alone. It hurts to feel alone, because it feels so much more colder than rain and wind and death. So when Ulaz reaches down to huddle him up more into a warmth Shiro doesn’t ache for, he hugs Ulaz close. He tears up at the sensation of a warm living body next to his own.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. Ulaz startles at the sobs and carefully lays his arms around Shiro to comfort and console him. His touch is feather light, barely there.

“Do your wounds hurt?” Ulaz tentatively asks.

Shiro shakes his head. It’s not the wounds that hurt. It’s the faint brush of hands on his back, the shy distance Ulaz keeps between them. Ulaz is there, he is so close, yet he is not. Shiro wants to get crushed in Ulaz’s arms, even if it means he will shatter. He wants to be close to life, and Ulaz’s strong heart beats steadily. He wants to breath in his scent and wants to feel his smooth fur against his skin. Even if he might not deserve it.

“Please forgive me,” Shiro chokes, “I’m so sorry…”

Ulaz knows there is nothing Shiro has to desperately apologize for like this. He also knows, though, Shiro seeks the reason why the Galra had left him in his own doings. Asks to be forgiven a crime he has not committed. It is not the Altean’s wrongdoing that had lead to bloody battlefields and lonely mourning. Yet they feel so utterly sorry it had come like that. They would forgive the Galra, Ulaz realises, for them to return to their side. They are pure like that, not bothering with accusations, not bothering being as hateful and angry and cruel as they have the right to be. As long as Shiro is not left alone, as long as they don’t have to fight each other anymore, he doesn’t care whom’s fault it is in the end. Shiro wants Ulaz with him, and Ulaz wants to be. Even if he might not deserve it.

Ulaz finally lifts the blanket and cuddles close to Shiro, wraps himself around him and wipes away the tears he himself could not shed. Like Shiro hadn’t dared to word his ask for Ulaz to be with him, Ulaz doesn’t dare to speak out that he is. They will eventually. They will heal, Ulaz’s soul and Shiro’s body. And all that heals carries hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :D
> 
> Me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/HapSkyScribbles)  
> Me on [Tumblr](https://hapskyscribbles.tumblr.com/)  
> Feel free to follow/unfollow ^^


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